abrdn plc Buys 13,071 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

abrdn plc raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 49.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,469 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 13,071 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $19,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 144.4% during the third quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 66 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 84.6% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 72 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 74.3% during the fourth quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 61 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

In related news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total transaction of $9,063,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 134,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,357,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Martin Marietta Materials news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total transaction of $936,959.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,793 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,099.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total transaction of $9,063,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 134,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,357,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,724 shares of company stock valued at $16,033,760. Corporate insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

MLM opened at $594.68 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.58, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a fifty day moving average of $589.77 and a 200 day moving average of $513.61. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $343.79 and a fifty-two week high of $626.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 3.35.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The construction company reported $4.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.67. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 17.25% and a return on equity of 15.77%. Martin Marietta Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.04 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 15.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MLM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. HSBC raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $376.00 to $543.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $635.00 to $708.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $588.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc, a natural resource-based building materials company, supplies aggregates and heavy-side building materials to the construction industry in the United States and internationally. It offers crushed stone, sand, and gravel products; ready mixed concrete and asphalt; paving products and services; and Portland and specialty cement for use in the infrastructure projects, and nonresidential and residential construction markets, as well as in the railroad, agricultural, utility, and environmental industries.